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Info for Himmelsmusik

Himmelsmusik (‘heavenly music’), a programme of sacred songs and cantatas by German composers of the 17th century, presents a striking contrast with the previous Erato album from Christina Pluhar and her ensemble L’Arpeggiata: Händel Goes Wild.
Himmelsmusik sees Pluhar taking a more sober and traditionally scholarly approach. She and L’Arpeggiata are joined by star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and the distinguished Belgian soprano Céline Scheen in a programme that includes the celebrated lamento ‘Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte’ by Johann Christoph Bach (born over 40 years before his relative Johann Sebastian), Heinrich Schütz’s ‘Erbarm Dich mein, o Herre Gott’ and prompts discovery of works by such lesser-known figures as Johann Theile, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, Christian Ritter and Franz Tunder. An instrumental piece by the Verona-born Antonio Bertali highlights the influence of Italian music on German composers of the time.
In an interview with the Bremen-based newspaper Weser-Kurier, Christina Pluhar provided some insights into the balance she strikes in her music-making with L’Arpeggiata.
“A way of escaping any categorisation as a specialist in improvisation is to undertake projects in which I play pure Baroque music. I always try to reinvent myself, to create something from my innermost being … I can be quite satisfied with music as it was originally written, and we will play this music without making excursions into other fields … But it is also always exciting to look at this music through the eyes of musicians who come from a different musical genre, since it opens up new perspectives and gives rise to a kind of new music. That can only work when you are well acquainted with the original music and its style, and have great respect for it … There are pieces that lend themselves to being developed into something new, and there are others that must simply be presented in all their purity and beauty – works which must be left as they are. Sensitivity is everything.”
L'ArpeggiataCeline Scheen, sopranoPhilippe Jaroussky, counter-tenorJésus Rodil, tenorDingle Yandell, bassChristina Pluhar, theorbo, direction

Christina Pluhar
After studying guitar in her home city of Graz, Christina Pluhar graduated in lute with Toyohiko Sato at the Hague Conservatoire. She was awarded with the 'Diplôme Supérieur de Perfectionnement' at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Hopkinson Smith. Then she studied with Mara Galassi at the Scuola Civica di Milano.
In 1992 she won the 1st Prize in the International Old Music Competition of Malmö with the ensemble La Fenice.
She lives in Paris since 1992, where she performs as a soloist and continuo player in prestigious festivals with famous groups such as La Fenice, Concerto Soave, Accordone, Elyma, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Ricercar, Akademia, La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Concerto Köln, and in ensembles directed by René Jacobs, Ivor Bolton, Alessandro di Marchi. Her repertoire includes solo and continuo works from the 16th to 18th centuries for Renaissance lute, Baroque guitar, archlute, theorbo and Baroque harp.
Since 1993 she gives master classes at Graz University, as well as baroque harp classes at the Conservatoire of The Hague since 1999.
In 2000 she founded the Arpeggiata ensemble. For ten years Christina and her Ensemble have been recording CDs as La Tarantella, All’Improvviso, Los Impossibles, Teatro d’amore and playing all over Europe.
She devotes a lot of time to the Ensemble L’Arpeggiata, as she is not only conductor and musician on stage, but she builds the programs herself and spends a lot of time doing researches too, necessary preliminary work to L’Arpeggiata’s concerts and CDs.
In 2010, she was celebrating the 10th birthday of the Ensemble she created with numerous concerts in France and Europe.

Booklet for Himmelsmusik

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